“The baby goes beep. The baby goes beep beep. The baby goes beep beep beep beep.” The baby also goes boom, la, flip, yum, splashsplash, smooch and shh throughout the day in first-time author Rebecca O’Connell’s clever picture book that skillfully blends repetition and onomatopoeia to create a lively and engaging read-aloud. The patterning lends itself to endless variations in the way words are emphasized as the text is read. This idea is echoed in Ken Wilson-Max’s bright, bold illustrations, which show the baby engaged in multiple activities for each repeated word (e.g., beeping the horn on a toy steering wheel and beeping daddy’s nose). While this picture book’s primary audience is very young children, it’s hard for anyone within listening distance to refrain from joining in, making it a perfect choice for families with children of varying ages. Honor Book, 2004 Charlotte Zolotow Award (Age 6 months and older)